The microtransactions of Fallout 76 are no longer cosmetic

Fallout 76 is in itself a strange experience that fails as a service game. This is getting better, but nothing is ever safe with live games and publishers / developers often come back on their promises. That's exactly what Bethesda did with Fallout 76 by introducing non-aesthetic microtransactions that have a tangible effect on the game.

In order to earn more revenue with its exclusively online Fallout service game, Bethesda plans to sell shortcuts in the Fallout 76 Atomic Shop. Players can purchase these kits with Atoms, a currency bought against the The kits are very advantageous and instantly repair the state of any object and allow players to avoid the boredom of collecting material. Bethesda sells us the stress savers directly. And non-cosmetic microtransactions could start well.

This is what Bethesda said in a recent blog post announcement:

"We read tons of comments and suggestions from the Fallout 76 community, and the repair kits were a popular request that we wanted to put in the hands of the players.We also thought we could try something new with those here, in the game as in the video game ". Atomic Shop: we look to the future to explore other ways to bring other community-inspired ideas, such as refrigerators for PACs, ammunition and food converters, and even the possibility of send scrap to your supply. without having to go home.

"Repair kits are our first attempt to use a utility product like this, and we plan to make adjustments based on your feedback, so we hope you will share your impressions with us when They will be posted later this month. "

This decision goes back to Bethesda's claim that cosmetics will only be monetized. Yes, repair kits are optional and, yes, they can be purchased with the motto that you win technically at stake, but it's a very bad idea for the studio. Fallout 76 is already a public relations nightmare that haunts Bethesda as the company attempts to advance its plans to consolidate all of its largest franchises into live titles (Wolfenstein: Youngblood is a recent exampleand Doom: Eternal could have the same fate).

So why would they do it and run the risk of angering an already upset player?

It's simple: they are testing new leads to make money. Like all service games, Fallout 76 has been specifically designed to allow players to earn money over time. The thought was that the more you play, the more you would want to pay for the shortcuts because the game is artificially elongated and frustrating tedious.

It is possible that Fallout 76 cosmetics are simply not very well monetized. This is to be expected because the the game is not yet fun or engaging– The updates help and the game can get there eventually – but as we said before, the monetization will absolutely kill the game.

I do not think it will go very well, especially if players have to pay either time or money for mechanisms that could simply be re-tooled with a patch. But the very name of the service games is to make money by making things as tedious and time consuming as possible, then saving time for individual sales.